Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah, who is the Sultan of Kedah, was proclaimed today as the acting Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

The proclamation was read out by Prime Minister Najib Razak at a ceremony at the Istana Darul Aman in Jalan Kedah, Bukit Persekutuan in Kuala Lumpur.

Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah then signed the instrument of proclamation to discharge the duties of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for a month.

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin will be away in Germany for 21 days for advanced physiotherapy at Medical Park, St Hubertus, Bad Wiessee, after having undergone knee surgery in November last year.

The proclamation ceremony today was also attended by the Tunku Panglima Besar of Kedah, Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz, who is the daughter of the Sultan of Kedah; Kedah menteri besar Azizan Abdul Razak and the Keeper of the rulers' seal Engku Ibrahim Engku Ngah.

Also present were the wife of the prime minister Rosmah Mansor, and several cabinet ministers.

Earlier, at 11am, Najib and Rosmah welcomed Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah at the Bunga Raya Complex of the KL International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang after the ruler had flown in from Kedah.

Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah was the fifth Yang di-Pertuan Agong, from 1970 to 1975. He was installed as the 27th sultan of Kedah in February 1959.

- Bernama